Obama leaves G-20 empty-handed on currency issue

G-20 leaders refused Friday to back a U.S. push to make China boost its currency's value.

The nations agreed at a summit in Seoul to set "indicative guidelines" for measuring imbalances between their economies but left the details to be discussed next year.

In saying that countries should do more to end what he called unfair trade practices, Obama criticized China. He said the country "spends enormous amounts of money" to keep its currency low and called it an "irritant" to the global economy, the Oval reports.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

About Doug Stanglin

Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug

About Michael Winter

Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.